The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1887-08-17


The second car had mounted off its trucks.
crashed through the car ahead OF it, crush
ing the woodwork aside like finder and
lay there resting on the tops of the seats
while every passenger in the front car was
laying dead or dying underneath. Out of
that car but four people came out
alive. On top OF the second car
lay the third, and although the lat
ter did not cover its bearer as COM
pletely as beneath, its bottom was smeared
with the blood of its victims. The other
three cars were not so badly crushed, but
they were broken and twisted in every con-
ceiyable way, and every crushed timber
and beam represented a crushed human
frame and a broken bone. Instantly the
air was filled with the cries of the wounded
and the shrieks of those about to die. The
groans of men, the screams of women
united to make an appalling sound, and
above all could be heard the agonizing
cries of little children as, in some instances,
they lay pinned alongside of their dead
parents. And there was another terrible
danger yet to be met. The bridge was still
burning, and the wrecked cars were laying
on and around the fiercely burning embsrs.
Everywhere in the wreck were
wounded and unhurt men, women and
children whose lives could be saved if they
could be gotten out, but whose death, and
death in a most horrible form, was certain
If the twisted wood of the broken cars
caught fire. And to fight the fire, there
was not a drop of water and only some
fifty able-bodied men who had still pres
ence of mind and nerve enough to do
their duty. The only light was the light
of the burning bridge. and with so much
of its aid the fifty men went to work to
subdue il. For four hours they fought
like fends and for four hours the victory
hung in the balance. Earth was the only
weapon with which the fire could be fought
and so the attempt was made to smother it
out. There was no pick or shovel to dig
it up, no baskets or barrows to carry ii IN,
and so desperate they dug their fingers
down into the earth, which long drouth
had baked almost as hard as stone, and
heaped the precious handouts thus hardly
won upon the enc1uaching flames, and
with this earthwork build, handful by
handful, kept back the foe. While this
was going on other brave men crept IN
derneath the wrecked cars, beneath the
fire and the wooden bars which held pris-
oners so many precious lives, and with
pieces of board, and sometimes their
hands, beat back the flames when they
flashed up alongside some unfortunate
wretch who, pinned down cy a heavy
beam, looked on helplessly while it
seemed as if his death by fire was certain;
and while the fight was thus going on,
the ears of the workers were
filed with the grosns of dying men, the
anguished entreaties of those whose death
seem certain, unless the terrible blaze
could be extinguished, and the cries of
those too badly hurt to care in what man.
ner the end were brought about, so only
1t wonld be quick. So they dug up the
earth with their hands, reckless of the
blood streaming out from broken fingers
nails, and heaping it up in little mounds
while all the while came the heartrender-
ing cries: "For Gods sake don't let Us burn
to DEATH"
But finally the victory was won, the fire
was put out after four hours of endeayor,
and as its last spark died away,
light came up in the east to take their
place and dawn came upon a scene of hor-
ror. While the fight had been going on,
men ban been dying and there were not so
many wounded to take out of the wreck as
there bad been four hours before. But in
the meantime. the country had been
aroused help had come from Chatsworth,
Forest and Piper City, and as the dead
were laid reverently alongside OF each
other, out in the cornfeld, there were
ready hands to take them into Chatsworth,
while some of the wounded were carried to
Piper City. One hundred and eigh-
teen Z was the awful roll OF the
dead, while the wounded numbered four
times that number. The full tale of the
dead cannot however be told yet for days.
TURNED INTO MoRGUE.
Chatsworth was turned into q morgue to-
day. The town hall, the engine-house, the
depot were all full of dead bodies, while
| CNCAl hOuoC III TIC lulu f4l1dtc AhQ Tvs
quota Of the wounded. There were over a
hundred corpses lying in the extemporized
dead house and every man and woman was
turned into an amateur but jealous nurse.
Over in lumber yard the noise of ham
mer and saws rang out in the air and In it
busy carpenters were making rough collins
to carry to their homes the dead bodies of
tina excursionists who, twelve hours before
had left their homes full of pleasurable ex-
pectations of the enjoyment they were
going 10 have during the vacation which
had begun.
When the news of the disaster was first
flashed over the wires, prompt aid was at
once sent. DIR. Steele, chief surgeon of the
Toledo. Peoria q Western Railroad, had
come at once on special train, and with
him were two other surgeons aud their as
sistants. From Peoria also came Drs. Mar
tin, Baker, Flagloer and Johnson, and
from every city whence the unfortunate
excursionists had come, their physi-
clans and friends hurried on to help them
From Peoria had also came delegations of
Red Men and the Ancient Order of United